Toyota ups the luxury ante with refreshed Land Cruiser

Introduced in Japan three months ago, Toyota South Africa has pulled the wraps off its refreshed Land Cruiser 200, which it claims to be the most advancement generation ever.

Available again in two models, the newcomer retains the familiar Land Cruiser silhouette, but with a restyled appearance consisting of a more pronounced chromed grille, active LED headlights with auto high beam assist on the range topping VX, larger taillight clusters, redesigned LED daytime running lights, and new bumpers.

In addition, the base GX adopts a barn-door rear entry setup last seen on the Land Cruiser 100, as well as foregoing the VX’s 18-inch alloy wheels for 17-inch units. An off-road snorkel is however standard.

To complete its off-road hardware, the Land Cruiser sees the introduction of Toyota’s new Multi-Terrain Select system, which allows the driver to choose from six modes; Rock, Rock & Dirt, Mogul, Loose Rock, Mud & Sand and Auto. The system also includes a crawl function that keeps speed low when negotiating potentially rough sections.

Inside, the interior has also gone under the knife with most of the buttons making way for a redesigned touchscreen infotainment system, and the Optitron instrument cluster for a TFT display.

Underneath the bonnet, the Land Cruiser does away with previous 4.7-petrol V8 with both models now featuring the carryover 4.5-litre twin turbodiesel V8, that produces 173 kW and 615 N.m of torque. A six-speed automatic is again the sole transmission option available.

A three year / 100 000 km and five year / 90 000 km service plan is included in the GX’s R850 000 and VX’s R1 141 700 asking prices.

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